by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

HAMPTON, Ga. â?? After a season of mostly being overshadowed by his fellow Sprint Cup rookie and girlfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a turn in the spotlight Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The Roush Fenway Racing driver has cautious optimism that the first pole position of his career in NASCAR's premier series could lead to more starring turns.

"It's finally good to get something accomplished this year," Stenhouse, 25, said after edging teammate Carl Edwards with a 189.688-mph lap in his No. 17 Ford for Sunday's Advocare 500. "We've not got much accomplished of the goals we were setting out to reach."

The two-time Nationwide champion is ahead of Danica Patrick (who qualified 21st Friday) in the points standings, but he still is seeking his first top 10 of the season.

Though Patrick is ahead in that category with an eighth after starting first in the season-opening Daytona 500, Stenhouse at least matched her best in qualifying Friday with his first pole in the 30th start.

"I do feel like the last few weeks we've been a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year," Stenhouse said. "I've learned a lot this year, and it's not fun not running up front and being consistently in the top 10 or top five, but that's still our goal."

The Olive Branch, Miss., native's led 26 laps and finished 11th at Kansas Speedway in April and seemed on the cusp of a breakthrough, but he has managed only three finishes in the top 15 in 15 races since, matching his season best with an 11th at Daytona International Speedway in July.

Stenhouse said team owner Jack Roush has laid the groundwork for a turnaround over the final 12 races.

"There's a lot that has changed," he said. "Jack has held nothing back. We've built new cars. We're doing everything that we can at Roush Fenway, and Doug Yates is working on the engines as hard as he can and Ford is working really hard, so I think our cars are getting a lot better, which, in turn, has helped me run a lot better.

"I'm learning these cars out and learning how to drive them throughout the race and throughout practice so that we're good in the race. I felt like early in the year I was just driving as hard as I could throughout practice and it didn't really translate to the race. We've struggled with a lot of things, but we've learned from a lot of them and hopefully we can apply that to the rest of the year. In 2010, my rookie year in Nationwide, it was about now that we started running a little bit better, and we kind of carried that throughout the rest of the season. I can't promise you that's what's going to happen, but that's what we're going to try to do and carry that momentum into next year."

Edwards, whose No. 99 Ford will start second after being nipped for the pole by 0.003 seconds, still believes his teammate could win a race or two this season.

"I know that they're better than their results have shown," Edwards said. "Everybody in here has seen what Ricky Stenhouse can do, and I don't think this pole is an anomaly. I think their struggles just show you how tough this series is."

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified third, a few hours after Earnhardt Ganassi Racing introduced Kyle Larson as Montoya's replacement in the No. 42 Chevrolet next season. Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five.

It will be a steeper climb over 500 miles on Atlanta's abrasive surface for several drivers who are fighting for Chase for the Sprint Cup berths but didn't fare so well in qualifying: Ryan Newman (17th), Kasey Kahne (18th); Brad Keselowski (23rd), Greg Biffle (24th) and Kurt Busch (32nd).